Some got stranded this weekend when the river dropped a few feet... :o

dpolen

04-23-2007, 01:13 PM

That blows, such a nice looking boat. How fast does the river have to drop for something like that to happen, I'm guessing that they were on shore while this happened.

P-hat_in_Cincy

04-23-2007, 01:18 PM

I think he was being sarcastic??? Unless it's a tidal situation, water dropping a few feet in a weekend seems unnatural.

BrianM

04-23-2007, 01:24 PM

I think he was being sarcastic??? Unless it's a tidal situation, water dropping a few feet in a weekend seems unnatural.

Unless they shut the water off at the dam or at least significantly reduce flow. If they do that the water drops real quick.

dpolen

04-23-2007, 01:27 PM

Regardless, it sucks to be that guy. I would probably break down and cry if that happened to me. (at least you can't get pulled over after the fact for drinking the remainder of the beer in the cooler)

Sodar

04-23-2007, 01:31 PM

It happens pretty fast. The levels are always fluctuating and at times, the river can go down a couple feet within an hour or so. Here is a Hallett that got caught unexpectedly too!!

P-hat_in_Cincy

04-23-2007, 01:50 PM

It happens pretty fast. The levels are always fluctuating and at times, the river can go down a couple feet within an hour or so.

Sodar...is it tidal, or actually a controlled level fluctuation? If it's not tidal, that's pretty amazing.

Do people just wait it out until it comes back up?

jraben8

04-23-2007, 01:57 PM

Do they bring it back up just as fast or fairly soon after? I can't believe that they would purposely leave those people like that for days on end... But who knows with todays government entities...

nuckinfutz

04-23-2007, 02:00 PM

Where is this lake?

caliguyinTN

04-23-2007, 02:02 PM

the river goes up and down depending on the release from the dam and the amount of irrigation the farmers who pump water out of the river for their fields. its usually a daily occurrence though so if you're boat is caught on the dry land, the next morning it should be back up to get the boat off the shore.

Sodar

04-23-2007, 02:07 PM

No, it is not tidal. It is governed by a few things. Mostly in the lower Colorado River water level is governed by the demand of water needed for farming. The river usually comes back up within a couple hours or so. Luckly, most of the river is soft desert sand, so really very little damage can happen. The level usually dips at night, when most of the farmers water their feilds, but for some reason, it dips sometimes during the day. The outflow is not so fast that one cannot catch it, you just need to keep your eyes open.

NuckingFutz, this is outside of Needles, just North of I-40...

river_ryder

04-23-2007, 02:58 PM

The Columbia fluctuates a couple feet a day but is based more on electrical demand than crops. Seen some boats get beached on gnarly lava rock.

Vegas X-Star

04-23-2007, 04:00 PM

I have witnessed this on Lake Mojave/Colorado River below Hoover Dam. We were camping and sitting around the fire one night. I noticed the water level dropping so I re-anchored the boat a few feet of the beach. The next morning my boat was still floating but the water had dropped 2 feet over night...be careful.

P-hat_in_Cincy

04-23-2007, 04:05 PM

No, it is not tidal. It is governed by a few things. Mostly in the lower Colorado River water level is governed by the demand of water needed for farming. The river usually comes back up within a couple hours or so. Luckly, most of the river is soft desert sand, so really very little damage can happen. The level usually dips at night, when most of the farmers water their feilds, but for some reason, it dips sometimes during the day. The outflow is not so fast that one cannot catch it, you just need to keep your eyes open.

WOW...never have experienced anything that drastic around these parts, unless going thru a lock at a dam. I stand corrected on my assumption then!

krtrcr

04-23-2007, 04:23 PM

Long ago we used to go on that same stretch of water just north of Needles. We used to call a number for Davis Dam which gave the information on how many gates were going to be open and at what time. We knew it took about 4 hours for the water to get down to where we were so we planned our day accordingly. The river could easily see a 5' fluctuation during the day.

dapicatti

04-23-2007, 11:06 PM

The Columbia fluctuates a couple feet a day but is based more on electrical demand than crops. Seen some boats get beached on gnarly lava rock.

I have seen this more times than I would like at Crescent Bar. Literally the water will drop in an hour. Or, overnight people who don't know better leave their boats close to shore and wake up to a beached boat.